Japan: The World of Allen Say

Japan is an island country in the North Pacific Ocean. There are 4 islands that make up Japan.

Japan is a part of the continent of Asia. It is located east of Korea and China in the Sea of Japan.

This is an “Americanized” Japanese house. Most Japanese houses are made out of timber.

Views out of the window of a home might include rice paddies in the backyard and workers of all ages caring for the rice plants.

The floors are mats made of woven rush grass called tatami. Chairs and table legs would ruin the floors, so no chairs and tables go on them.

The walls inside houses are called shoji and are made of rice paper glued onto a bamboo frame. Walls between rooms slide open. It is hard to keep secrets in a house like that!

Japanese people always take their shoes off and leave them in the entryway before entering a house. The kitchen and bathing areas have hard floors like in America.

Bathtubs are like big wooden hot tubs. You bathe with soap and water, then rinse off outside of the tub. The tub is just for soaking. Everyone uses the same tub water.

This is a photo of a typical restaurant in Japan.

Reading a Japanese menu can be a problem for Americans. Restaurants have displays of “fake food” on display outside the restaurant.

Restaurants provide chopsticks to eat with, but waitresses will bring you a fork if you ask.

Traditionally the Japanese wore long gowns called kimonos. They were made of silk and brocade and were very expensive.

The very best kimonos had designs handpainted on them.

Older Japanese still wear everyday kimonos, but the more costly kimonos are saved for festivals and special events like weddings.

Then, even the very young put on their finery.

Modern Japanese dress in the“western style” which means in the way people in the western hemisphere dress.

School children of all ages wear uniforms to school.

Each school has its own uniform or something about the uniform that makes it different, such as a jacket or hat.

The teacher is called “professor” and is very respected. Students bow to their teacher when he or she enters the room.

Japanese children go to school on Saturdays as well, but only until noon.

Most roads in Japan are very narrow. Two American cars couldn’t drive side by side. Japanese cars are much smaller. Taxis are very inexpensive to take.

Even though some Japanese people have cars, they often ride the train because it is much faster.

The Japanese have some of the fastest trains in the world called “bullet” trains.

If you go sightseeing in Japan you will visit shrines and temples. The Japanese have two main religions, Zen Buddhism and Shinto. They are very similar.

You often have to enter a temple area by going through a torii gate, but torii often stand alone and are a shrine.

There are shrines everywhere in Japan; even along roadways. People have shrines in their homes to worship their ancestors.

Some of the shrines have great big buddhas which represent their gods. The biggest buddha is in Kamakura.

Temples are often busy hosting festivals of all kinds.

Festivals can be about the seasons of the year, their gods, or ancestors.

This is a photo of the Emperor’s summer palace. The palace area is large and surrounded by a high concrete wall. The palace is right on the beach.

The Emperor has another larger palace in Tokyo which is the largest city in Japan and one of the busiest cities in the world.

Tokyo never sleeps.

From almost anywhere you are on the islands of Japan, you can see Fujiyama which means Mount Fuji.

Fujiyama is one of the most photographed mountains in the world and is sacred to the Japanese.

Fujiyama is always the first thing peopIe notice when they sail into the harbor or fly to Japan by airplane.

Pictured here is a typical day at the market in Japan.